I work part-time at a gun store. Here in AZ it's damn near dark this time of year a 6pm, definitely dark at 7pm. I don't like riding at night, I admit; because I think all the bad/inattentive stuff cagers do during the day are magnified at night; not to mention that they may be even more "impaired" for whatever reason.

I'd like to know (from those of you who do it a lot) what your suggestions might be re: how to survive this situation? I have many years of riding under my belt; but as I write this, I realize that very few of them were riding at night.

Thanks for your input:

__________________
I came into this world kicking, crying and covered in someone else's blood. I have no problem leaving the same way.

Nocturnal animals will give ya a fright when they're just standing there on the side of the road; with my luck I'll be cruising the roads through the bayou and a friggen alligator will attempt to cross the road and I hit it. I leave the office at midnight and sometimes I just go for a ride instead of heading home. I'll end up in New Orleans or Mobile by the secondary roads and it's drunks and critters I look out for. I find that the roads are kind of empty the later it gets and I like that; you can really see the texters and phone users by the glow of the phone, easier to avoid them at night.

I noticed that I speed more during the daylight hours and I tend to keep the speed down to the actual speed limit at night. The cops have nothing better to do and you're a prime target for speed checks, at least where I live. I already got pulled over once this year and was let go with a warning. You'll get hyper-aware when riding at night, you'll get used it but don't let your guard down.

You really want to pucker up? Ride at night during a rain storm with a cross wind.

I work part-time at a gun store. Here in AZ it's damn near dark this time of year a 6pm, definitely dark at 7pm. I don't like riding at night, I admit; because I think all the bad/inattentive stuff cagers do during the day are magnified at night; not to mention that they may be even more "impaired" for whatever reason.

I'd like to know (from those of you who do it a lot) what your suggestions might be re: how to survive this situation? I have many years of riding under my belt; but as I write this, I realize that very few of them were riding at night.

Thanks for your input:

Similar guidelines to daytime...see and be seen. Do NOT outride your sightlines.

Light up the bike with amber and red LEDs, front, back and sides. Red to the rear, and amber to the front. Go to www.superbrightleds.com and get their reflector tail/brake "bulb" that flashes 3x before going solid. I also put DOT red/white reflective tape on my topcase. Make sure you have a good headlight. HIDs are popular.

Wear hi-viz green with reflective patches on arms, legs, back, chest, and shoulders. Wear a white helmet with reflective tape on front, back, top, and sides. If you get tossed off the bike and are laying in the road, you don't want to get hit. Keep your faceshield clean.

Watch out for drunks. Watch out for vehicles with no frikken lights on. Use some LED fog lights to illuminate the road shoulders, show critters, and make your bike more visible.

I read a good tip in a bike mag not long after I started riding, "Once it gets dark, assume every car driver on the road is drunk, or falling asleep at the wheel."

When you're trail riding, riding at night adds a real challenge; seeing where the 'path' goes becomes even harder and shadows show potholes that may be an inch deep, or big enough to lose your bike in.

__________________I like my bike because I can overtake 4x4s down farm tracks with a week's worth of shopping on the back.

I love riding at night but like most folks was leery of the critters, idiots, drunks, etc. that are more of a problem at night of course because you just can't see all that well or far. My BMW 1150GS has pretty good stock lights but they were still not up to the task even with HID bulbs. I did a lot of research and finally landed on the low-mounted, tune-able LED Clearwater Lights "Glenda" cruising lights:

These things are AWESOME! They light up the road very well, extend my vision dramatically, REALLY light up any reflective stuff out there (signs, arrows, reflective paint, etc.) much better than the standard lights, and have proven to be bombproof and waterproof even when fully submerged riding through water crossings. I looked at high-mounted lights but decided against those because you either have to aim them away or to turn them off when other traffic approaches or you'll blind them. These lights are wired into my stock lights and go dim on low beam and high on high beam. The output of the LEDs can be tuned to whatever percentage of maximum you want when they're on low-beam and they automatically go to 100% output when you switch to high beam - fantastic when riding in traffic. Of course these would be subject to getting hit by rocks etc. if you're riding off-road with them, but I don't do much single-track or truly rough stuff with the Big Pig (I've got a WR250R for that ). I mounted the low-beam output dimmer under my left hand guard where I can get to it easily and it's out of the weather (little black knob with a blue line):

I've noticed that on-coming traffic can see me better during daylight as well - it's been a dramatic improvement in that regard. Here's the website if you're interested:

I also wear gear with reflective elements (but not hi-viz) and have 3M reflective material at crucial places like the backs of the hard cases. 3M makes a material that is colored in daylight (black, red, yellow, etc. to match what you stick it on) but is highly reflective at night and even shows up at certain sun angles during the day. I don't have a photo of it on my GS luggage, but here it is on an RT I used to own:

It's black during the day and super reflective at night and can cover a very large area. I bought some red and black in 4" by 60" rolls, I think from Galls.com but it also comes in larger sheets and many colors. Here's a link to one site:

I'd like to know (from those of you who do it a lot) what your suggestions might be re: how to survive this situation? I have many years of riding under my belt; but as I write this, I realize that very few of them were riding at night.

Put some pieces of red SOLAS tape on your helmet, one 2" diamond on the rear, perhaps 1" diamonds on the right and left rear/side. It's the highest point on the bike when you are on it. Also add some SOLAS tape or reflective stickers to your bike, or panniers. Mammals are hardwired to pay attention to things that are wide (indicates danger), so any reflective pattern you can establish that sets up a triangle helps trigger a cager's attention, even if it is unconsciously. Ever pull behind the rider in the black leather jacket at night, with only the rear taillight glowing? Not so attention gettting. . ..

Reflective panels on your gear helps, too. If you have a top case, pull off the rear lens, discard that useless piece of white backer, and replace with white SOLAS -- reinstall the red lens -- it will positively glow when illuminated.

For the bike, I added HID lighting, as well as auxillary lighting -- Clearwater Kristas. The Kristas turn night into day, but volume control makes it easy not to bother oncoming drivers when full volume isn't needed. They also establish that triangle pattern I mentioned above, giving me (I hope) a slightly better chance of catching the attention of potential oncoming left turners.

I agree with the above. Light up your bike, add some lights to the front so you have better visibility, keep your speed to where you feel comfortable, and just be vigilant. It really isn't very different than riding in the day.

I also wear gear with reflective elements (but not hi-viz) and have 3M reflective material at crucial places like the backs of the hard cases. 3M makes a material that is colored in daylight (black, red, yellow, etc. to match what you stick it on) but is highly reflective at night and even shows up at certain sun angles during the day. I don't have a photo of it on my GS luggage, but here it is on an RT I used to own:

It's black during the day and super reflective at night and can cover a very large area. I bought some red and black in 4" by 60" rolls, I think from Galls.com but it also comes in larger sheets and many colors. Here's a link to one site:

Good luck with your efforts to light up the night! Once you get comfortable with your lights and other visibility needs it really is a whole new world of riding enjoyment.

Doug

Doug,
How well does the kit for the sidecases reflect? I stuck some cheap strips from Ace Hardware on my cases (R12R), and they reflect light 180* perfectly. Anything that is not aligned with the sight angle doesn't reflect very well. Unfortunately, headlights are several degrees lower than eyes, so the strips are both ugly and ineffective in showing the back of the bike in traffic.
-dan